Monday, February 24, 2014

A One Hole Golf Tournament

Elfego Baca was born February 10, 1865. At age 19 he bought a mail-order badge. I didn't misspell "bride", keep reading stupid. He stole some guns. Then he appointed himself Sheriff of Socorro County, New Mexico in 1884.

While the rest of the wild west was becoming tame, Southwest New Mexico was like international waters. It was common for cowboys to come into town and take over. They'd get drunk, get bored and shoot up the town. Just because there was a town with a saloon, general store and bank, didn't necessarily mean there was law enforcement.

Most westerns are horseshit when it comes to accuracy, but this guy's life followed the story line of the movie Tombstone. Back then, when you killed the right people, folks thought you were a cool dude. So, after being in a few gunfights ,and surviving them, a legend was born.

Fast-forward to the present, the laws of the land aren't as simple, but one can't deny a legend. The Elfego Baca Shoot Out golf tournament takes place 7,243 feet above sea level on Socorro Peak. There is only one hole and it lies 2550 feet down hill with an overall distance of 3 miles. That's right, a golf tournament that consists of one hole.

Even a good shot is hard to find, a bad one is often a guaranteed loss ball which means one stroke.From the tee box the spotters go to work attempting to find the ball or decide where to drop the ball if it goes down a mine-shaft. Oh yeah, there's a ridiculous amount of mines along with all the rocks and elevation. Each participant can lose 10 balls then they're disqualified.

The hole record is 9 shots set by Mike Stanley, but the score card goes all the way up to 75 strokes. Needless to say, par isn't even a consideration, just finishing with any of the ten balls your given is a win in itself.